18 September 2007

From first grade I think, all the way through junior high at McKinley. He grew up on Oliver Street in Bay Ridge where I hung out and grew up. We played lots of street hockey together.

The first time I heard the name Howard Stern was from Peter. His house was always warm and smelled like Spanish rice. He had a few younger sisters. He was always very quiet but definitely had a temper; a silent rage that would sometimes boil over. We played baseball together, too. He pitched and he was good.

The one time I went over his house after school to hang, he got sick and threw up. It was pretty awkward.

I heard his name on 1010 WINS as I was laying in bed early this morning and when I woke up and read the story and saw his face I freaked. It was him. So sad. What an awful, horrible story...

I haven't seen or thought of that face in years but I remember it so well. Those deep sunken, somewhat haunted eyes. The more I read about the story the more I recall that quiet rumbling rage he had sometimes; his eyes would well up with tears and suddenly he'd snap. For real. I'm not just saying that now after the fact.

The father of a 3-month-old Palisades Park girl is charged with murder after fatally striking his infant daughter's head on an iron stair railing over the screams of the baby's horrified mother, prosecutors said Monday.

The attack on Jenessa Olmeda came without warning after the girl's father, 29-year-old Peter Olmeda, asked his girlfriend if he could hold Jenessa one last time before he left Saturday night, authorities said.

But instead of cradling his daughter, Olmeda took hold of her ankles and swung her into the railing outside the Bergen Boulevard duplex where her mother's family lives, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said. Olmeda then threw Jenessa to the ground and ran off, Molinelli said.

Jenessa was pronounced dead at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck. An autopsy on Monday showed that she died from head and brain trauma and suffered injuries throughout her body as a result of the "repeated" blows, Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor James Santulli said.

"I've never seen this violent an act against such a defenseless human being," Molinelli said. "This redefines cruelty. ... I'm hard-pressed to even think of a case of an animal that was treated this cruelly."

Bystanders tackled the Cliffside Park resident as frantic relatives called 911. The suspect's father tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate his granddaughter with guidance from a 911 operator, Molinelli said.

Olmeda showed no signs of being troubled as he spent an evening at home Saturday night with Jenessa; the infant's mother, 26-year-old Stephanie Avans; and his father, Pedro, Molinelli said. There had not been any arguments at the house, everyone was in good spirits and no one had been drinking, the prosecutor said.

Pedro Olmeda drove the couple and their daughter to the two-story brick duplex, where the plan was to drop off Avans and Janessa before returning home to Cliffside Park, Santulli said.

Pedro Olmeda left the car running and stood by a gate as his son went up to say goodbye, Molinelli said. Pedro Olmeda darted toward the house when he heard Avans scream and caught a glimpse of his son shaking what looked to him like a baby blanket, Molinelli said.

"No one saw this coming," Molinelli said. "This came completely out of the blue."

Avans was "very distraught" by what she witnessed and was admitted to the Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus for psychological evaluation, Molinelli said.

Peter Olmeda also was taken to Bergen Regional, where he was undergoing psychiatric evaluation on Monday, Santulli said. A judge ordered him held on $1 million bail as he awaits a court appearance later this week to be formally charged with murder and child endangerment.

There was no answer Monday at the Avans residence. Their neighbors, Joseph and Rosa Veltri, said they heard Stephanie Avans scream late on Saturday night, but didn't see anything. They described the Avanses as "good people."

"The boy, I didn't know much," Rosa Veltri said, referring to Peter Olmeda. "We see him on the porch, but we never talk to him."

Peter Olmeda's attorney, Brian Neary, said he has known the accused's parents for a long time.

"They are a very sweet, decent family," he said. "They are devastated both by the death of their granddaughter and by their son's predicament."

Citing privacy laws, both Molinelli and Santulli declined to say whether Peter Olmeda has a history of mental illness. In 1999, when he was 22, Olmeda was charged with robbery, simple assault and riot for allegedly participating in two strong-arm robberies on Anderson Avenue in Fairview. The outcome of those charges was not immediately clear Monday.

As her mother watched in horror, a 3-month-old Palisades Park girl was beaten to death by her father, authorities said Monday.

Peter Nicholas Olmeda showed no signs of being troubled as he hung out at his Cliffside Park home late Saturday with young Jenessa, the infant’s mother, Stephanie Avans, and his father, Pedro.

Olmeda’s father then drove all of them to Avans’s home in Palisades Park, where the plan was to drop off mother and baby before heading back to Cliffside Park.

Once there, Peter Olmeda asked to hold Jenessa one last time.

Holding her by the ankles, he slammed her head repeatedly against a front porch railing. Olmeda then threw the baby onto the concrete pavement.

“No one saw this coming,” “This came completely out of the blue.”

Pedro Olmeda darted toward the house when he heard the mother’s screams and later tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate the baby. Bystanders who rushed to the scene tackled Peter Olmeda as he tried to run away and then called police.

Jenessa was pronounced dead sometime after midnight at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck. An autopsy showed that she died from head and brain trauma. She also suffered injuries throughout her body.

Peter Olmeda was taken to Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus, where he was undergoing psychiatric evaluation on Monday. A judge ordered him held on $1 million bail as he awaits a court appearance later this week to be formally charged with murder and child endangerment.

The babys mother, Stephanie Avans, was “very distraught” by what she witnessed and was admitted to Bergen Regional for psychological evaluation.

Olmeda’s attorney, Brian Neary, said he has known the accused killer’s parents for a long time.

“They are a very sweet, decent family,” he said. “They are devastated both by the death of their granddaughter and by their son’s predicament.”

Citing privacy laws, authorities declined to say whether Peter Olmeda has a history of mental illness.

Naturally, detectives are stumped by what drove him to commit such an act.

“The nature of the assault and what this man did to a defenseless, 3-month-old infant really begs an answer that we really don’t have right now,” the prosecutor said.

25 comments:

Anonymous
said...

All I have to say is pete only has one sister! and He is a really good guy. He was sick and it is not his fault that he couldn't control his sickness. My heart goes out to the mother and to Peter who i am sure is suffering just as bad. I am sorry to Peters family. They are great People and togerther they will get threw with. Peter was not a hateful vengful guy. And i know for a fact he loved that little girl!

I remember Pete as being a good dude too, honest, smart, nice, just a good kid. He was a friend of mine.

I have no idea what mental illness he had but that's awful and if it lead him to this, that is just mortifying.

But I do recall he had a temper. He was a VERY, VERY quiet, calm and reserved guy but I do recall on several occasions he could explode into a rage; his eyes would well-up with tears and he would just explode.

I'm sorry i was just really close with him. He was one of my best friends and he did so much for me. He was really sick its not just a ploy that everyone is making it out to be. So i feel like i need to stick up for him. He did so much for me and other around him. I feel that his illness took over him and i don't want people to think that he a monster. I know that what he did was wrong. But he was a good guy. And he would never do something like that under normal circumstance's.

i think YOU are seriously sick to really say "hes a good guy". he is nothing but a psychotic lunatic that took the little girl we all loved so much away from us. my friend. my poor innocent friend is so deeply hurt from the loss of her baby. the baby she carried for 9 months. he robbed all of us of her beautiful life and i hope PETE ROTS IN PIECES!

this isn't shocking as horrible as it is. i dated this asshole years back and he was psycho then. he used to stalk me and stick letters in my mailbox in the middle of the night .. creepy. when i wanted to leave him i tried everything and it was like he kept showing up and calling and finally about 6 months later it all stopped. he's a prick.. on one occassion he brought me to some house in paterson for a new years party and they were all smoking weed while this stupid bitch who lived there was holding her 3 month old son in her arms.. then he ran and told them that i was going to call services on them so i had death threats for about 3 or 4 months thereafter.. i'm glad he's rotting in a jail cell and i hope and pray to god they put him in general pop so he cold get his ass beat every freakin moment he's still alive and breathing. a damn shame.. an innocent child has to be brough to her death by the arms of a madman whom obviously has a history of mental illness but yet noone has done anything about it. if you ask me..we're as guilty as he is. If people including myself knew he was sick.. we shouldve alerted the authorities .. maybe we could've prevented this.

Peter is a sick man...and he has always been a sick man. All of his friends new this. From what i kniw he had gotten help before. If peter took his meds the way he was suppost and he took care of him self the way he should i belive the very trattic accident would have never happened. I am sorry to the mother that lost her child. I cant imagian what you are going threw. And to her family as well i know this can not be easy. Also to his family try to get threw all this in one piece i know you lost a son and a grand daughter and i a m sorry for your loss. I preay that peter gets the help he needs and reliezes the wrong in what he did. But i also wish him somwday a peice of mind. When he gets back into a regular state of mind he is going to be crushed for what he did to his daughter and he is going to have to live with this for the rest of his life. I Hope both familys will one day be able to rest in piece.

I have known peter and he never dated anyone as stupid as the person who said he "stalked " her. Please don't be full of yourself!! He only had a few girls in his life and I know all of them. As all his girls always called him and never left him alone so I you are full of it. And if you really knew him you would know about his past history and what both himself and his family has been through, so don't try and act like you know something ... which you clearly don't know a dame thing. This world is full of hateful people and that is why people don't walk around with tags on them telling people they are ill or their personal problems. Maybe ignorant people should wake up and realize this world is not perfect and knowledge everyone has problems just not all the same!

I dont know who this erin girl is...and i nore does anyone that was close with him really apriaced talking shit. I was with peter four close to five years. so you fating him a few years back is bullshit. i think u really need to check urself lil girl. peter is a good guy. he had trouble keeping his meds and stuff but if not for that this terrible thing would have never happened. To this erin girl back the hell off and stop saying shit about a really good guy. i dont take lighly to ppl talking shit about someone that i am so close with. and i dont think the familys of the accident would really apricated it at all. i dont have a user name or anything but my name is tiffany. and him and his family are great ppl so really ppl that don't anything about this situation should really just shut it.

this is erin.. to the stupid bitch that said she didn't know about me.. well guess what - i existed. guess he cheated on you with me..d oesn't matter. he's an ass. what he did was wrong. dead wrong. God will judge. You don't believe me? write him in jail.. ask him who erin from bergenfield was with the brown curly hair..that used to live on new york ave.. ask him about the stupid rap songs he used to write to me and stick in my mailbox at midnight. ask him about his 2 idiot friends in paterson that threw the new years party and were smoking weed while she held her baby in her arms.. ask him who the fuck threatened and did call social services on those goons.. yeah me. ask him who's daddy used to pick me up from bergenfield and drive me to cliffside park or drive me home from cliffside park because pete couldn't drive the car that late. and his room was in the basement .. how would i know that? hmmm mmmmmm =) yeahh that's me. so don't go saying anything bout that I don't exist. I do. I was just smarter than you all for leaving him when i did as quickly as i did. you probably enabled him to be who he was, obviously if you knew he was sick and had an aggravated temper you shouldve said something to someone.. right?..

this isnt surprising. he had a history of mental illness and the mother knew it. he had sliced his wrists and tried to jump off a bridge. ask dyfs why they were notified on several occasions about this family and they did absolutely nothing. our system failed that little girl and everyone even the mother who knew who had issues and its hard to believe that they werent arguing because they argued all the time

peter was an obbsessieve phychotic asshole he never loved anyone but himself he deserves evething that he gets i would like just 5 nins alone with him i believe in an eye for an eye i would do to him exactly what he did to that beautiful innocent baby girl

I can't understand the people on here who want to be negative and talk sh-t a year after this all occurred. First of all if you all say u hope that the people involved heal...then why are you still being hateful and wrong!! Let the people involved be! If you look at the hard facts Peter was sick!! And for both families who are involved and who love Peter let them heal. For those of you who said that the mother is stupid...well check again..she has to deal with this the rest of her life and you can say all you want about her but she is a strong woman with lots of love. As for Erin (whoever u are) I think you have your facts wrong I belive you are full of yourself and I am sure you are a loser who just needs attention GET A LIFE !! Just leave them alone.

I agree, The mother and the father and the families have all suffered enough with out people who don't know anyone get involved and voice there options and to this Erin girl...you really need to get over your self for real. and anyone that every talks about his mother and father you really need to shut up. The are the sweetest and caring people in the world. And they have tried to get there son help. More then anyone would really Know. I don't think that anyone really knows what going on other then people involved. Its been a year and people are still ragging about this. The mother is very strong and deal with this everyday grow the fuck up and LEAVE them alone. The need to deal with this. AND ERIN FUCK OFF! I DON'T GIVE A FUCK WHO AND WHAT YOU KNOW. MIND YOUR BUSINESS AND LEAVE THEM ALONE REALLY!

Why are there people saying such bad things about the parents and the mother of the baby? They are not the ones to blame.. Pete and Pete alone is the blaming party. I can not imagine what the family of this little angel have been through. I agree that the mother should seek help if she is standing by the baby's father for her own sake. Love is a strong emotion and sometimes you just cant help you care for no matter what but give her a break. She has to live with this everyday and she needs to work out her own emotions, I dont see how that is anyone's bussiness and for Erin who cares about the fact if you dated him or not? Instead of being here posting comments you should be thanking god that you are not with him because it could have easily happened to you! GROW UP!

Stephanie is NOT a strong woman... just a very stupid one.... let's keep it real.... just a desperate girl looking for love anywhere she can all at the cost of her children... people like her make me sick!

PETER OLMEDA IS A SICK BASTARD IM VERY HAPPY HES BEEN COMMITTED HOPE HE RECALLS STEPHANIES SCREAMS N HIS DAUGHTERS FACE EVERYDAYSTEPHANIE IS A GREAT MOTHER N A BEAUTIFUL STRONG GIRL WHO HAS COME A LONG WAY

So what if he's been committed? Do you know Peter personally? He has serious mental issues that are not his fault. I'm sure when he came to his senses he was extremely sorry for what he did. Don't come on here bashing people if you don't even know them.

first off fuck yall stephanie the mother of the bay is a wonderful strong women who has raised an amaizng 12 yr old pete n pete alone is the one to blame he is scumm of the earth and if he was sick he should have gotten help hes a peice of shit